Ashford University and University of the Rockies, two for-profit higher education institutions with their names on downtown Denver buildings, on Tuesday announced their intent to merge and become one nonprofit university.

The plan still needs to be approved by the WASC Senior College and University Commission, the U.S. Department of Higher Education, the Internal Revenue Service and state regulatory bodies, according to a joint news release from the schools.

If all goes as intended, the merger and status change should be completed by the end of the year, the universities said. The combined organization will be known as Ashford University.

Despite repeated requests for an explanation of what moving to a nonprofit system would do for Ashford and University of the Rockies, spokesman Nolan Sundrud was unable to name anything specific or reach anyone at either organization who could offer a substantive answer.

“We believe returning to nonprofit status will allow us to better serve students and to be judged and measured as colleges and universities should be: on our ability to foster student learning,” Ashford president and CEO Craig Swenson said.

Students at the University of the Rockies — which plans to stay at its Denver campus location — will have the chance to complete the program they’re currently enrolled in or choose a new degree program under the merged university.

The doctoral programs offered by the University of the Rockies will become a doctoral college within Ashford University, said Sundrud, the director of corporate communications at Bridgepoint Education, the publicly traded owner of Ashford and University of the Rockies. Master’s degree and undergraduate courses will be integrated into Ashford’s existing colleges.

Shireman, former deputy undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Education for the Obama administration, was skeptical of the institutions’ decision.

“Most of the recent conversions of for-profits to nonprofits have been wolves in sheep’s clothing,” Shireman said.

Shireman said some of them operate as “covert for-profit colleges,” claiming to operate as a nonprofit but still having financially interested governance.

San Diego-based Bridgepoint will become an online program management company, with the merged Ashford University as its first client, the company said in a news release.

For-profit universities have come under fire in recent years for taking advantage of their students. In 2016, Bridgepoint was ordered to refund students a total of $23.5 million for allegedly tricking them into taking out loans that cost more than advertised.

Sundrud said for-profit colleges have been “unfairly targeted” and the conversion to a nonprofit will allow Ashford to continue without “distractions.”

“We think it’s time to move on so we have an opportunity to get out from those distractions,” he said. “Some of it is mostly a perceptional issue.”

Ashford CEO Swenson said the switch has nothing to do with skirting regulations.

“Regardless of tax status, institutions are being called on to focus on outcomes,” he said, “and there will continue to be an increased need for greater accountability and transparency across the entire higher education landscape.”

Elizabeth Hernandez is a Denver Post reporter covering breaking news and a little bit of everything else, too. A former education reporter at both The Post and Boulder Daily Camera, Elizabeth is passionate about using her platform to tell the stories of underrepresented Coloradans in an accurate, compassionate, engaging manner. She started at The Denver Post as an intern in 2014 and just kept coming to work until they hired her.

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